The present invention relates to personal digital assistants and more particularly to using a personal digital assistant as a remote control.
Personal Digital Assistants (PDA""s), such as 3COM""s PALMPILOT and INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE CORPORATION""S WORKPAD, are very popular today. Millions of users around the world now use some type of PDA. The PDA""s are mainly used as an information device for applications such as a calendar, email, address book, and memo pad.
FIG. 1A is a simple block diagram illustrating some of the components of a conventional PDA. The PDA 100 comprises a central processing unit 102 (CPU) and memory 104. Software is stored on the memory 104 and executed by the CPU 102. Some PDA""s also has an infrared port 106 used for transmitting information between PDA""s. A user of the PDA 100 may store various information in the PDA""s memory 104. For example, the user may input and store television program schedules and refer to this information when interested in watching television.
FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating the combination of a conventional television 110, video cassette recorder 112 (VCR), and universal remote control 108. When the user determines which television program he/she wishes to watch, based on the schedule information on his/her PDA, the user can utilize a universal remote 108 to send instructions to a television 110 via an infrared signal to display that program. If the user wishes to record a program, he/she may use the universal remote 108 to program the VCR 112 with the time, date, and channel of the program via another infrared signal.
However, this method of accessing program information, and controlling the television and VCR based on this information, is cumbersome to the user. The user must operate both a PDA and a remote control in order to place the program schedule information in the PDA 100 to use with the television 110 and VCR 112.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a method and system of simplifying the use of program schedule information through a remote control. The method and system should be easy to implement. The present invention addresses such a need.
The present invention provides a method and system for controlling a device. The system includes a personal digital assistant with a computer program for receiving a program information from a source and selecting a program based upon the program information; and an emulator for sending a signal to a device based upon the selected program. The personal digital assistant receives the program information from a source and selects a program based upon the program information. In the preferred embodiment, the device includes a television and a video cassette recorder. With the method and system of the present invention, a user can place into use the program schedule information in the personal digital assistant without the need for a separate remote control. This simplifies the use of the program schedule information in the personal digital assistant.